Toothpick.



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Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 19055,

Application iilecl October l, 1903. Serial No. 175,338A

To 111// 11171/0111/ 1/; 'nt/ty 1in/tecra:

.le it known that I, Romain? liess lfnnnimn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Nashville, Davidson county, State oflvenncssee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inToothpicks, of which the following is a specification.

li/ly invention relates to toothpicks; and its object is to provide atoothpick which will obviate the objections inherent in all kinds oftoothpicks heretofore proposed or made.

',loothpicks have been made in many forms and of many materials; but allhave failed to greater or less extent of the purposes desired, owingchieti y to the injurious effects resulting from the material used. Thequill toothpick is perhaps the best heretofore used and most generallyrecommended by the dental profession, but there are serious objectionsto its use, for if it be made suliicientl v thin to pass betweenclosely-set teeth its strength so impaired that it tends to and does.frequently bend or double up instead of penetratii'ig, and again themoisture of the mouth quickly softens its texture to such an extent asto make it useless, while itfreq uentl y splits, resulting in thepenetration and wounding olf the gums by the slivers thus formed. Themost generally used is the wooden toothpick, which possesses similailobjections as the quill toothpick, but greatly intensiiicd, for it iswell known that small slivers or pieces of the wood are readily detachedfrom a toothpick of this material and are caused to penetrate the'gunrpockets and the gums in the interstices bctween and about the teeth,resulting in setting up of undue and persistent irritation of the gums,which :frequently becomes so serious as to cause the loss of thcteeth byreason of the disease thus developed in the gums.

liflany kinds of metallic toothpicks have been proposed and used,including gold and silver; butaside from the expensive nature of thematerials all such metallic toothpicks have been liable to misuse,because of the :failure to exercise the great care in their usenecessary to prevent the injuries liable to follow such use, the mostserious of which is well known to be the injury to the enamel of theteeth caused by the corrosive action thereon :induced and promoted bythe chemical action set up between the metal and the secretions of themouth, as well as from elements of the :food particles.

lf have discovered that aluminium possesses all the characteristicsessential for the purposes sought in the best toothpicks, inasmuch as itis entirely `free from all the objections incident to the othermaterials, metallic or otherwise, hitherto used. ltsadvantagesare clearand well defined, as developed by long experience and careful experimentand observation, for because of its softness it will not mar, injure, orbreak in any way the texture of the tooth; the secretions of the mouthhave no chemical action on it, and therefore there is no corrosive orcontaminating el'lect, so destructive in its effect upon the enamel; itsstrength is sul'licient, even though very thin, to penetrate betweenvery close contiguous surfaces of the teeth, and it can be readily bentto any form for reaching in remote recesses, while it can be readilyrestored without injury to its straight condition and it is not liableto be broken.

In the drawing l have shown a perspective view of a toothpick of thepreferred form in which my invention may be embodied, though it is to beunderstood that any convenient and suitable form may be adopted. Theform shown is designed not only with a view to efliciency in use, butcheapness and readiness in manufacture. The 'flat body l of thetoothpick is flattened and tapered at the broadened end 2, while it istapered and round-pointed at the narrowed end 3, thus providing in theone instrument two implements for reaching by the pointed and taperednarrow end the smaller and remote recesses and by the flattened andtapered broad end the thinner and elongated interstices between adjacentteeth.

claim as my invention l. As anew article of manufacture, a toothpickhaving a thin body with narrow pointed end and composed of a metal, suchas aluminium, possessing` the characteristics of softness, pliability,malleability, strength, and imperviousness to the chemical action ofsecretions of the mouth and food elements, capable of being made verythin to penetrate between very close contiguous surfaces of the teeth,and possessing suflicient firmness and strength to be bent inte andtenuiorarily retain various forms :for reaching every part of the teethto cleanse the same, and straightcned for use again in such straightenedform, substantially as described.

2. As a new article of i'narnifacture, a [lat toothpick made of metal,such as aluminium, having a body provided with a liattened and taperedbroadened end and a pointed and tapered narrowed end, possessing' thecharacteristics of softness, pliability, malleability, strength, andimperviousness to the chemical action of secretions of the mouth andfood elements, capable of being made very thin to penetrate between Veryclose contiguous surfaces of the teeth, and possessing suficientfirmness and strength to be bent into and temporarily retain Variousforms for reaching every part of the teeth to cleanse the same, andstraighten for use again in such straightened form, substantially asdescribed. In testimony Whereofl have signed my name to thisspecification in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

ROBERT ROSS FREEMAN. Witnesses:

A. WILLIAMS, JNO. KELLER.

